James Holmes batman cinema shooting in Aurora Colorado

Americans wonder about motive movie killer

James Holmes is shot and killed twelve people and injured dozens have. Now come the first details about the young man out: The alleged attacker of the "Batman" premiere comes from a good family home, was a successful student - and apparently a loner.

Denver - Kaitlyn Fonzi did not know what was in the apartment above her right. There, on the third floor of a red brick house in Aurora, Colo., resident James Holmes, 24 years old, student of neuroscience. And now, at midnight, a sudden loud techno music was heard from the apartment.

Holmes was removed at this time probably not at home, but in the cinema complex, Century 16, just minutes away. If it is true, which is currently all indications, he was wearing a gas mask and a bulletproof vest, was dressed all in black, with an assault rifle and a shotgun armed and shot specifically for the visitors of the Batman premiere in Hall 9th
From all this, Fonzi suspected in the night on Friday nothing. And so they went up one floor to complain. She knocked on the door that was unlocked, apparently. When no one responded, she went back down and called the police. The head office told her it was too busy because of a shooting. By 1 clock the music stopped then again. Fonzi and her boyfriend went to sleep - it told the student hours later, according to "USA Today" and the Associated Press.

By 2 clock at night Fonzi and her boyfriend were awakened by a special unit. The house had to be evacuated because Holmes is said to have furnished his apartment with booby traps. The devices are refined, it could take hours or days to defuse it, police Chief Dan Oates said later.



"I'm afraid I would have triggered the booby trap, if I had opened the door," said Fonzi. Since she was still in his pajamas in front of the house. Now she not only questions: Was the loud music is a ploy to lure more victims into the trap? And anyone who thinks like this something insidious?
"Among the best of the best"

The alleged perpetrators grew, according to James Holmes' Los Angeles Times "in San Diego. His father is thus a software engineer, his mother a nurse. In high school, Holmes is a member of the soccer and cross country teams have been. A neighbor describes him in the report as a shy, polite and very active in the local church.

Even former teammates seem to know very little about the tall boy. "I do not think many of the children knew him. He was a loner," says the mother of a boy who also played in the football team.

A classmate recalled in the "Los Angeles Times" that he had often eaten in a small circle with Holmes for lunch. It had a dark, sarcastic humor, but that he had never been perceived as crazy. "Looking back, I'd say he was probably a bit crazy -. Like me" Especially introverted Holmes was not in this round. "He was not quiet, but he has also endeavored not just to make friends."

Holmes did in 2010 with a degree in neuroscience at the University of California-Riverside. As for the academic, he was "among the best of the best," said University Chancellor Timothy P. White. Holmes has dealt with how people behave. "It is ironic and sad," says White.

"He was a nice guy, very, very smart, a bit strange - just as you would expect from a really smart guy, almost," says a former classmate, the report says about Holmes. They had gone out from time to time together with friends. "They call him now disturbed," said the 23-year-old. "Never in a million years I would come up with this idea. I was shocked when I saw his picture in the news."

Despite the high marks Holmes apparently had trouble finding a job. When he graduated, the United States was in the midst of economic crisis. He moved to Colorado for a year and was enrolled in a doctoral program at the University of Colorado at Denver. But recently he had stopped, said the university. One reason for this was unknown.

Tripwire in the living room

The movers Jackie Mitchell lives just blocks away from Holmes, Aurora. He has often taken on Tuesday along with the 24-year-old a few drinks at a bar, said Mitchell. "He looked very smart, I thought to myself, he is one of the students. We have always talked only about football."

In social networks, Holmes has left no trace - or have covered it. The Web site tmz.com reported a profile on an adult site that Holmes is said to have created the beginning of July. It is a young man with orange hair to look, to the saying: "Will you visit me in prison?"

After the attack at the cinema, a New York police commissioner had said the perpetrators had his hair dyed red, and "The Joker" called - as the arch villain from the Batman universe. CNN also reported this, citing an unnamed federal agents. The police from Aurora wanted the information so far unconfirmed - of the investigation for tactical reasons.
Holmes had his weapons in recent weeks, all purchased legally, just as 6000 rounds of ammunition. When he was arrested in a parking lot behind the theater, he told the police, would be in his apartment in explosives. The living room is, according to the local fire chief cross laced with trip wires, which in turn lead to a bottle with unknown liquid. A robot should be light controls the device, according to Reuters.

Meanwhile, Holmes no longer speak with the police, AP reported, citing an investigator who is familiar with the procedures. The alleged perpetrator had requested an attorney.